HEIMA

I beginning to feel that Sigur Ros is a very special band. There is something quite magical about this 2 DVD set. Heima translates as "at home" and you can see that the band are very much at home back in Iceland after a long tour. On DVD 1, the music is separated by interviews with the band that reveal an intelligent foursome. They don't take themselves too seriously but they do take their music very seriously. Indeed this project shows a rare thing - a serious band that is not pretentious in any way. I love the interaction between the band and the locals. Live performances occur in all sorts of places, village halls, disused factories, open air gatherings. All sorts of people watch the band, from very young to very old and all sorts of artists contribute to the different tracks: a choir, brass band, violinists... Sigur Ros even showcase some elder members of the community singing. All through both discs, beautiful footage of Iceland is shown, and a wild slice of nature it is too. DVD2, by the way, has less interviews and so the music flows better if you want that (the songs are the same but in a different order with a couple of extra tracks). So, to the music - the band are amazing. Such beauty, such grace, such power (on Glossoli and Untitled 8). They are so talented, the keyboard player plays guitar and flute, the drummer plays keyboards, the bass player plays glockenspiel, the guitarist plays bass, and at one point they all play a homemade 4-man marimba. If you already know Sigur Ros, you will love this. There are great versions of Glosoli, Se Lest, Olsen Olsen, Popplagid (this was Untitled 8 on the "( )" album), Hoppipolla, Von and Samkeyti (previously called Untitled 3). One word of caution though - I don't think this is a place to start as a Sigur Ros listener. There's probably too much to digest with 2 100-minute DVDs. For fans though, this is a winner.